What is the Face in Facebook?

It has been a trying week. So much to do, so little time. So, what goes first? The extra little things -- the sudoku, surfing for recipes for tonight’s dinner, checking Facebook... For some, checking in with Facebook is as regular and necessary as having a meal, if not more often and more critical. For me, I check my Facebook maybe once a week. If that. I look for news, event notices, political articles, things that make me think. Personally, I’m really not interested in where someone is at the moment, or who washed their cars.

Many of my friends and certainly my teenage daughter think that I am a dinosaur in my thinking. Facebook is today’s face time, according to her and apparently millions of others. To be fair, I do see a potential with this type of networking. I have also witnessed the power of linking people after disasters or social events. Look at Egypt! Missouri! New Orleans! These are wonderful, completely valid uses of a pretty easy and accessible tool.

However, when I discover something that happened weeks ago and I am told, “Didn’t you see it in my Facebook?”, I sigh. Is that what we have come to? That the importance of my knowing something is equal to someone’s other 248 Friends? I guess my fear is that Facebook will soon replace the time when someone close to me actually calls me to tell me their arm is broken, or they need someone to talk to.

So, Facebook, I acknowledge you and your power. I see the genius in your ability to reach people when other avenues have not. I see you as an important tool, especially in times of crisis and disaster. But for the rest of my life, I’m old school. Please, just call me.

Viva Revolucíon!

Wow! What a week! One of the most important events in many of our lifetimes just occurred this past week. After 30 years of inarguably a corrupt and repressive government, the Egyptian President received a strong boot in the pants by the country’s own people. And what impressed me the most was that 1) relatively few people died and 2) it happened in large part by the power of the country’s youth!

OK, Sue, this seems a LARGE stretch to emergency preparedness, right? Au contraire! The youth of Egypt and the world are a much different breed from those of us from an earlier generation. Today, they communicate FAR more than we did at that age. They text, they tweet, they Facebook, they blog. And when Mubarak’s regime decided to pull the plug on the Internet for Egyptians, that was apparently “it!”

So, the point is that communication has changed drastically and it is really up to us to use it. Many people who felt lost in New Orleans after Katrina “found” their family via Facebook. Blogs gave a voice to those who wanted to let others know that they were broken a bit, but not beaten, and gave people a reason to hope. Text messages reached places that normal voice messages could not.

Communication will probably be the thing that will mean the successful survival after a major disaster. Yes, some services will be disrupted and possibly out for a while, but when we have so many ways of communicating, one will eventually be our way to life and recovery.

So, tweet, blog or log on to that Facebook now and start your own revolution to be prepared.